In the same way that a street address represents a location in the physical world, a domain name can be used to represent a location on the Internet. In the physical world, one relies on both street addresses and the postal system to send information back and forth between individuals and organizations. On the Internet, one relies on the Domain Name System (DNS) to translate domain names into Internet addresses.
In general, names are thought of as discrete emblems used to establish or designate identity; addresses are thought of as emblems designating location. Domain names might seem to be unusual because they appear to be both names and addresses; they both locate and identify Internet resources. Yet people's personal names, for example, establish identity, and such identifiers travel with the individual rather than changing when the person changes location. Street addresses or geographic names, by contrast, are more static in order to establish location. Yet such addresses and geographic names also serve to identify the physical place, differentiating it from other places.
Geographic names of all kinds—street addresses, zip codes, counties—are in fact overlays on an unchanging numerical system of longitude and latitude, which is a universally recognized designator and locator for a particular place on the earth's surface. In this sense, geographic names are much like Internet domain names, which are an overlay of Internet address number designations.
Name space is a set of names in which all names are unique. Address space is a set of addresses in which all addresses are unique. Names are commonly used as mnemonic devices to help remember information. For instance, names are used to remember telephone numbers, and domain names are used to remember Internet addresses.
Currently, national phone numbers take the form of an international dialing code, area code, prefix, and number (e.g., 1-212-555-1212). During the turn of the century, phone companies built “exchanges” known as Central Offices to serve a certain geographical area. The exchange was named after the first prefix installed in that office. Before phones had dials on them, an operator connected the caller's request to the name of the exchange and number, such as Spring 3456 or Pennsylvania 5000. In the late 1920's, once dials started appearing on phones, a caller could connect the phone number by first dialing the first three letters of the exchange and then the number. For example, the caller would dial the S-P-R in Spring and then the 3456 or the P-E-N in Pennsylvania 5000. Back then, phone numbers were written with the dialed letters capitalized such as SPRing 3456 and PENnsylvania 5000, as a mnemonic device.
By the 1930s, large cities were dropping the third letter from the dialing routine and replacing it with a number, in order to increase the available numbers for each exchange. So numbers such as SPRing 3456 would become SPring2-3456 and PENnsylvania 5000 would become PEnnsylvania6-5000. This simple change added 80,000 new numbers to existing exchanges. Exchange names helped foster a sense of place, and community, in the same way that cities do. For over 30 years exchange names were published in phone directories and had become common use worldwide.
Area codes were being used up faster by the early 1960's than was predicted in 1947 when the area code scheme was finalized as part of the North American Numbering Plan (NANP). As a result, exchange names were continually being reassigned causing confusion and aggravation in communities throughout major cities in the country. During the early 1970's, as exchange names were phased out and 1-800 toll free numbers introduced, industry recognized and extended the use of mnemonics for commercial advertising and name branding. During the 1980's, 1-800 names were popularized to the point where brokers would buy names with the hope of selling or leasing the 1-800 names from their growing portfolio. In fact, courts have almost unanimously held that telephone mnemonics may be protected as trademarks. In recent years, the shortage of seven letter names used as a mnemonic device led to the strategy for obtaining telephone numbers that correspond to eight and nine letter names. In recent years, two new toll free exchanges (1-888, 1-877) were added because of the saturation of 1-800 numbers. Exchange names are but one example of name space. A recent area of worldwide concern is the allocation of name space on the Internet.
The Internet is a vast computer network having many smaller networks that span the world. A network provides a distributed communicating system of computers that are interconnected by various electronic communication links and computer software protocols. Because of the Internet's distributed and open network architecture, it is possible to transfer data from one computer to any other computer world wide. In 1991, the World-Wide-Web (WWW or Web) revolutionized the way information is managed and distributed through the Internet.
The Web is based on the concept of hypertext and a transfer method known as Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) which is designed to run primarily over a Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) connection that employs a standard Internet setup. A server computer can provide the data and a client computer can display or process it. TCP can then convert messages into streams of packets at the source, then reassembles them back into messages at the destination. Internet Protocol (IP) handles addressing, seeing to it that packets are routed across multiple nodes and even across multiple networks with multiple standards. HTTP protocol permits client systems connected to the Internet to access independent and geographically scattered server systems also connected to the Internet.
HTTP provides a method for users to obtain data objects from various hosts acting as servers on the Internet. User requests for data objects are made by means of a HTTP request, such as a GET request. A GET request is comprised of the GET request keyword, the full path of the data object, the name of the data object, and a HTTP protocol version, such as “HTTP/1.0”. In the following GET request, a request is being made for the data object with a path name of “/example/” and a name of “file.html”:
GET/example/file.html HTTP-Version
Processing of a GET request entails the establishing of an TCP/IP connection with the server named in the GET request and receipt from the server of the data object specified. After receiving and interpreting a request message, a server responds in the form of a HTTP RESPONSE message. Response messages begin with a status line comprising a protocol version followed by a numeric Status Code and an associated textual Reason Phrase. Space characters separate these elements. The format of a status line is as follows: Status-Line=HTTP-Version Status-Code Reason-Phrase
The status line always begins with a protocol version and status code, e.g., “HTTP/1.0 200”. The status code element is a three-digit integer result code of the attempt to understand and satisfy a prior request message. The reason phrase is intended to give a short textual description of the status code. The first digit of the status code defines the class of response. There are five categories for the first digit. 1XX is an information response. It is not currently used. 2XX is a successful response, indicating that the action was successfully received, understood and accepted. 3XX is a redirection response, indicating that further action must be taken in order to complete the request. 4XX is a client error response. This indicates a bad syntax in the request. Finally, 5XX is a server error. This indicates that the server failed to fulfill an apparently valid request.
Client side browsers, such as Netscape Navigator or Microsoft Internet Explorer provide efficient graphical user interface (GUI) based client applications that implement the client side portion of the HTTP protocol. One format for information transfer is to create documents using Hypertext Markup Language (HTML). HTML pages are made up of standard text as well as formatting codes that indicate how the page should be displayed. The client side browser reads these codes in order to display the page. A web page is static when it requires no variables to display information or link to other predetermined web pages. A web page is dynamic when arguments are passed which are either hidden in the web page or entered from the client browser to supply the necessary inputs displayed on the web page. Common Gateway Interface (CGI) is a standard for running external programs from a web server. CGI specifies how to pass arguments to the executing program as part of the HTTP server request. Commonly, a CGI script takes the name and value arguments from an input form of a first web page which is used as a query to access a database server and generate an HTML web page with customized data results as output that is then passed back to the client browser for display.
The Web is a means of accessing information on the Internet that allows a user to “surf the web” and navigate the Internet resources intuitively, without technical knowledge. The Web dispenses with command-line utilities, which typically require a user to transmit sets of commands to communicate with an Internet server. Instead, the Web is made up of millions of interconnected web pages, or documents, which can be displayed on a computer monitor. Hosts running special servers provide the Web pages. Software that runs these Web servers is relatively simple and is available on a wide range of computer platforms including PC's. Equally available is a form of client software, known as a Web browser, which is used to display Web pages as well as traditional non-Web files on the client system.
A Uniform Resource Identifier (URI) is a compact string of characters for identifying an abstract or physical resource. URIs are the generic set of all names and addresses that refer to objects on the Internet. URIs that refer to objects accessed with existing protocols are known as Uniform Resource Locators (URLs). A URL is the address of a file accessible on the Internet. The URL contains the name of the protocol required to access the resource, a domain name or IP address that identifies a specific computer on the Internet, and a hierarchical description of a file location on the computer. In addition, the last (optional) part of the URL may be a “query string” preceded by “?” or a “fragment identifier” preceded by “#”. The fragment identifier indicates a particular position within the specified file. For example the URL “http://www.example.com:80/index.html#appendix”, where “http” is the scheme or protocol, “www.example.com” is the host server name or Fully Qualified Domain Name (FQDN), “80” is the port connection for the HTTP server request, “index.html” is the filename located on the server, and “appendix” is the identifier to display a specific portion of the HTML file called “index”. The URL “http://www.example.com” also retrieves an HTML file called “index” on the HTTP server called “example.com”. By default, when either a port or filename is omitted upon accessing a HTTP server via a URL, the client browser interprets the request by connecting via port 80, and retrieving the HTML file called “index”.
Similar to a URL, postal codes were developed to provide a hierarchical description for locating a post office. In June 1962, the Presidential appointed Advisory Board of the Post Office Department, after a study of its overall mechanization problems, made several primary recommendations. One was that the Department give priority to the development of a coding system, called the ZIP (Zoning Improvement Plan) Code, a five-digit code assigned to every address throughout the country. The first digit designated a broad geographical area of the United States, ranging from zero for the Northeast to nine for the far West. This was followed by two digits that more closely pinpointed population concentrations and those sectional centers accessible to common transportation networks. The final two digits designated small post offices or postal zones in larger zoned cities.
Introduced in 1983, the ZIP+4 code added a hyphen and four digits to the existing five-digit ZIP Code. The first five numbers continued to identify an area of the country and delivery office to which mail is directed. The sixth and seventh numbers denote a delivery sector, which may be several blocks, a group of streets, a group of post office boxes, several office buildings, a single high-rise office building, a large apartment building, or a small geographic area. The last two numbers denote a delivery segment, which might be one floor of an office building, one side of a street between intersecting streets, specific departments in a firm, or a group of post office boxes.
Because an Internet address is a relatively long string of numbers (e.g., 31.41.59.26) that is difficult to remember, Internet users rely on domain names, memorable and sometimes catchy words corresponding to these numbers, in order to use electronic mail (e-mail) and to connect to Internet sites on the Web. The DNS is a set of protocols and services on a network that allows users to utilize domain names when looking for other hosts (e.g., computers) on the network. DNS is composed of a distributed database of names. The names in the DNS database establish a logical tree structure called the domain name space. Each node or domain in the domain name space is named and can contain subdomains. Domains and subdomains are grouped into zones to allow for distributed administration of the name space.
The DNS provides a mechanism so backup databases can be identified in case the first one becomes unavailable. DNS databases are updated automatically so that information on one name server does not remain out-of-date for long. A client of the DNS is called a resolver; resolvers are typically located in the application layer of the networking software of each TCP/IP capable machine. Users typically do not interact directly with the resolver. Resolvers query the DNS by directing queries at name servers, which contain parts of the distributed database that is accessed by using the DNS protocols to translate domain names into IP addresses needed for transmission of information across the network.
The Berkeley Internet Name Domain (BIND) implements an Internet name server for the UNIX operating system. The BIND consists of a name server and a resolver library. BIND is fully integrated into UNIX network programs for use in storing and retrieving host names and addresses by calling a routine from the resolver library called gethostbyname( ) which returns the IP address corresponding to a given Internet host name. Error return status from gethostbyname( ) is indicated by return of a NULL pointer.
At the heart of Netscape client products lies the Netscape Network Library (netlib). A necessity of any network based client browser application is to send and receive data over a connection. This is accomplished in netlib by making a call to NET_GetURL( ). Among NET_GetURL( )'s arguments is a URL_Struct which contains the actual URL to be retrieved. When a call to NET_GetURL( ) is made, a connection is established between the client making the request and the host machine named in the URL, a request is sent in a particular format specified by the protocol (e.g., http, ftp), and data is received by the client, from the host machine.
In order to resolve host names, netlib uses a standard DNS lookup mechanism. NET_FindAddress( ) makes the gethostbyname( ) call to lookup the IP address for the specified host from a DNS database stored on a DNS server, and is called from NET BeginConnect( ). If a numeric IP address is passed into NET_FindAddress( ), it is passed directly into the gethostbyname( ) call which will always return success when an IP address is passed in. NET_FindAddress( ) is actually called repeatedly until it returns success or failure. Upon success the host entity struct is filled out, and cached. Upon failure, the host entity struct is freed and the “not found” result is passed back up to the caller.
A domain name includes two parts: a host and a domain. Technically, the letters to the right of the “dot” (e.g., tlda.com) are referred to as Top Level Domains (TLDs), while hosts, computers with assigned IP addresses that are listed in specific TLD registries are known as second-level domains (SLDs). For the domain name “tlda.com”; “.com” is the TLD and “tlda” is the SLD. Domain name space is the ordered hierarchical set of all possible domain names either in use or to be used for locating an IP address on the Internet. TLDs are known as top-level domains because they comprise the highest-order name space available on the Internet. SLDs, as well as third-level domains (3LDs) such as “31d.tlda.com”, are subsidiary to TLDs in the hierarchy of the DNS.
There are two types of top-level domains, generic and country code. Generic top-level domains (gTLDs) were created to allocate resources to the growing community of institutional networks, while country code top-level domains (ccTLDs) were created for use by each individual country, as deemed necessary. More than 240 national, or country-code TLDs (e.g., United States (.us), Japan (.jp), Germany (.de) etc.) are administered by their corresponding governments, or by private entities with the appropriate national government's acquiescence. A small set of gTLDs does not carry any national identifier, but denote the intended function of that portion of the domain space. For example, “.com” was established for commercial networks, “.org” for not-for-profit organizations, and “.net” for network gateways. The set of gTLDs was established early in the history of the DNS and has not been changed or augmented in recent years (COM, ORG, GOV, and MIL were created by January 1985, NET in July 1985, and INT was added in November 1988).
There are proposed solutions for revamping “.us” in order to create a more viable use for the United States TLD. On Aug. 3, 1998, a request for comments was printed in the federal register by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) for public opinion on the enhancement of the “.us” Domain Space. At present, the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) administers “.us” as a locality-based hierarchy in which second-level domain space is allocated to states and US territories. This name space is further subdivided into localities. General registration under localities is performed on an exclusive basis by private firms that have requested delegation from IANA. The “.us” name space has typically been used by branches of state and local governments, although some commercial names have been assigned. Where registration for a locality has not been delegated, the IANA itself serves as the registrar.
Some in the Internet community have suggested that the pressure for unique identifiers in “.com” could be relieved if commercial use of the “.us” space was encouraged. Commercial users and trademark holders, however, find the current locality-based system too cumbersome and complicated for commercial use. Expanded use of the “.us” TLD could alleviate some of the pressure for new generic TLDs and reduce conflicts between American companies and others competing for the same domain name. Clearly, there is much opportunity for enhancing the “.us” domain space, and the “.us” domain could be expanded in many ways without displacing the current geopolitical structure. Over the next few months, the U.S. government will work with the private sector, along with state and local governments, to determine how best to make the “.us” domain more attractive to commercial users. In fact, news reports have conveyed that serious proposals have been submitted by the United States Postal Service (USPS) to become a critical factor in the revamping of “.us” domains.
The Commercial Internet eXchange Association (CIX) is a non-profit, trade association of network service providers promoting and encouraging the development of the public data communications internetworking services industry, in both national and international markets. CIX has also been lobbying for better use of the “.us” system. According to a draft from CIX in March 1998—in response to a White House “Green Paper” released the previous month on the proposed rule for “Improvement of Technical Management of Internet Names and Addresses”—CIX states concerns that “.us” is not widely used for commercial purposes. Indeed, sites employing this domain may not be frequently visited. It is widely acknowledged that the “.us” domain suffers from structural deficiencies and requires extensive reform. The lack of a commercially viable name space for the U.S. contributes directly to the demand for “.com” SLDs and the alleged critical shortage of gTLDs. Therefore, reform of the “.us” may help alleviate the need for gTLDs and be more consistent with international practices of using ccTLDs, at least in the short and medium term. The DNS is operated by a Network Information Center (NIC) in each counrty to act as authority for administering the respective ccTLD zone file portion of the DNS database. The Internet Information Center (InterNIC) previously administered by the National Science Foundation (NSF), was formed to preside as authority over the gTLD zone files. In 1993, InterNIC was privatized and Network Solutions Inc. (NSI) was chosen to preform the registration and propagation of these key gTLDs, under a five-year cooperative agreement with the NSF.
Every request to resolve a domain name by locating a particular host on the Internet must necessarily, by default, refer to the root zone file on the NSI root nameservers in order to be directed to the appropriate nameserver containing the SLD names registered under the particular TLD indicated in the host's request. Accordingly, unless and until a TLD root nameserver or any SLD nameserver, is referred to in the root zone file, that nameserver will not be globally recognized on the Internet and the names serviced thereby will not be universally resolvable.
The Internet domain name registration market is lucrative and rapidly growing. The demand over the past year for domain names or SLDs has exceeded 400,000 new registrations monthly. InterNIC also registers 3LDs, but the number of registrations is little in comparison to SLDs. The most common use of 3LDs is for the designation of DNS servers, e-mail servers, or other specialized computer functions whereas the primary use for SLDs are for accessing web sites and brand name recognition. Furthermore, the arbitrarily limited number of TLDs has created a severe shortage of desirable domain names in the “.com” registry, leading to substantial pent-up demand for alternative domain name resources. Experimental registry systems offering name registration services in an alternative set of exclusive domains such as “.space” or “.love” developed as early as January 1996. Although visible to only a fraction of Internet users, alternative DNS systems such as the Name.Space, AlterNIC, and eDNS registries have contributed to the community's dialogue on the evolution of DNS administration. Competition argues that TLDs become an issue of free speech and should not be restricted to the current limited set of gTLDs and ccTLDs.
Customers registering second-level domains in alternative TLDs cannot be reached by other Internet users because these domains, which are not listed in the root zone file, cannot be resolved by other Internet DNS name servers. Only if competitors individually negotiated with each of the scores of thousands of name server operators on the global Internet, something that is a physical and financial impossibility, for inclusion of alternative TLDs would there be any possibility that its domain names could be universally resolvable. As a result, competition has been unable to offer a commercially viable registration service in its TLDs, and has been unable to effectively compete in the domain name market.
In an effort to shift the overseeing of the Internet out of government hands and into the private sector, NSI's original extension to the cooperative agreement was extended six months to have then expired Sep. 30, 1998. Most recently, NSI and officials from the Department of Commerce's NTIA have agreed to a two-year extension of their Cooperative Agreement through Sep. 30, 2000. Included in the extension are provisions to transfer relevant US Government authority over some domain name system functions to a new non-profit corporation. Incorporated and headquartered in California, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) is the non-profit corporation that was formed to take over responsibility for the IP address space allocation, protocol parameter assignment, domain name system management, and root server system management functions now performed under U.S. Government contract by IANA and other entities. The IANA, also headquartered in California, is the overall authority for day-to-day administration of the DNS. IANA staff carry out administrative responsibilities for the assignment of IP Addresses, Autonomous System Numbers, TLDs, and other unique parameters of the DNS and its protocols.
ICANN, NTIA, and NSI agreed to a migration to a shared registration system (SRS) in a phased approach beginning Mar. 31, 1999 with full implementation by Jun. 1, 1999. NSI has implemented a SRS to support multiple licensed, accredited registrars offering registration services. NSI and other domain name registrars function as retailers of domain name registration services through NSI's SRS. NSI will also continue in its role as the registry or wholesaler of “.com”, “.net”, and “.org” domain name registrations. To date, NSI has registered more than 7,000,000 domain names, or SLDs, in “.com”, “.net”, “.org”, and “.edu”.
There is a particular increase in articles and publications emphasizing the importance of name space and the perceived shortage of “.com” names. References have been made that NASA is seeking authorization for “.mars” as an extension of terrestrial geography. Speaking on the opening day of the annual Internet Society (ISOC) conference in Geneva on Jul. 22, 1998, Vint Cerf, a founding President of ISOC, said the domain name debate should also encompass “.earth” or “.mars” because that's where real-time science data is going to travel from in the not-too-distant future. He said, “The idea is to take the interplanetary Internet design and make it a part of the infrastructure of the Mars mission.” Ironically that same day, an on-line Wired News article reports that Netword LLC has sued Centraal Corp. for patent infringement on its Internet keyword system. The system uses plain English instead of URLs to retrieve Web addresses. The technology lets companies and site owners register simple keywords that browsers can use to access Web sites. “Chevy,” for example, could be used as an alias to replace the lengthier Web address “http://www.chevrolet.com”. The system works using a client browser plug-in. U.S. Pat. No. 5,764,906 issued on Jun. 9, 1998, by Edelstein et al. and assigned to Netword LLC, entitled, “Universal electronic resource denotation, request and delivery system” is a system that works by users guessing a short mnemonic alias without the user being required to know the Web page's URL.
There is another cited patent that relies on a translation database to retrieve URLs and access resources. U.S. Pat. No. 5,812,776 issued on Sep. 22, 1998 by Gifford, entitled, “Method of providing internet pages by mapping telephone number provided by client to URL and returning the same in a redirect command by server” allows a user to access a hypertext page by providing a conventional telephone number or other descriptor. The server maps such a telephone number or descriptor to a target page identifier using a translation database and automatically directs the client to retrieve the desired page.
Patent applications published abroad indicate further efforts of simplification in resource location. WIPO Patent Application WO9922488A2 published on May 6, 1999 by Osaku, et al., entitled, “Method and system for accessing information on a network” discloses methods and systems for accessing a network URL through a pre-assigned simplified network address, correlating to the URL, and for displaying the home page having the URL as its address. WIPO Patent Application WO9939275A1 published on Aug. 5, 1999 by Teare, et al., entitled, “Navigating network resources using metadata” discloses mechanisms for associating metadata with network resources, and for locating the network resources in a language-independent manner. The metadata may include a natural language name of the network resource, its location, its language, its region or intended audience, and other descriptive information.
URLs are used in media and written in documents or typed within e-mail, and data files, etc. as a means to make reference to accessible online content that helps express the context of the ideas one wishes to communicate. URLs are generally written in an abbreviated manner as partial URLs or domain names (e.g., “http://www.example.com” is the URL, “www.example.com” is the FQDN, and “example.com” is the domain name). During the early stages of commercialization on the Internet, businesses displayed the full URL when advertising a commercial or display ad as a means to locate the resources of the business on the Internet. Improvements have been made to recognize partial URLs when entered in the location field of a web browser or network accessible device for automatically appending protocol information so a full URL request can be made. By submitting a domain name or FQDN in the location field, the browser modifies the request by adjusting the partial URL and adding “http://” in front of the domain name or FQDN in order to construct a valid URL. As a result of this convenience, companies have modified their advertising and distribution of URLs through print, film, radio, television and other media as “example.com” or “www.example.com” instead of the URL “http://www.example.com”.
The “www” in “www.example.com” has become the de facto standard for web server software to connect with hosts on the World Wide Web portion of the Internet. However, in an effort to shorten the URL length both in advertising and as a means of input, a DNS resource record has been used to create aliases for the actual FQDN. The CNAME Record are sometimes called “aliases” but are technically referred to as “Canonical Name” (CNAME) entries. These records enable the use of pointing more than one domain name to a single host. Using canonical names makes it easy to host both an FTP server and a Web server on the same machine. The CNAME record “example.com. IN CNAME www.example.com.” enables a domain name to become an alias of a FQDN. This alias allows resolvers to process input such as “http://example.com” to resolve to a web server at the URI “http://www.example.com”.
Entering a URL in the location field of a web browser serves as a means to locate a network resource corresponding to the URL. Because the location field is essential for accessing network resources, the design of such location fields have rivaled much competition and innovation between existing web browser products from companies such as Netscape and Microsoft. Improvements to better track and organize sites of URLs that users have visited such as Bookmark folders, URL history, and the personal toolbar are all examples of functionality designed to help users navigate. Other improvements include spell checking and an autocomplete feature from the URL history as text is entered into the location field.
A more recent feature called Smart Browsing is integrated into Netscape Navigator that uses Internet Keywords so users can streamline the use of URLs and get fast access to web sites using the browser's location field. Any single or multiword strings typed into the browser's location field that does not include a “.” are sent via HTTP to a server at “netscape.com”. The keyword server pulls the string and compares it to several separate lists of keyword-URL pairs. If the keyword system finds a match, it redirects the user's browser to the URL of the keyword-URL pair. Failing a match against the lists, the user's browser is redirected to a Netscape Search page with the typed string as the search query. The “.” versus “ ” is a key factor in determining what services are used. Depending on context, the detection of only a “.” delimiter implies a domain name used for name resolution services whereas the detection of only a “ ” delimiter implies a search request used for directory services.
The autosearch feature of Microsoft Internet Explorer (MSIE) is another example of an improvement to the location field of a web browser. The details of the autosearch feature is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,009,459 issued on Dec. 28, 1999 by Belfiore, et al., entitled, “Intelligent automatic searching for resources in a distributed environment.” The '459 patent specifies a mechanism for a computer system to automatically and intelligently determine what a user intended when the user entered text within the location field of a web browser. Often users improperly enter URLs or enter search terms in a user interface element that requires URLs. If the user enters text that is not a URL, the system may first try to construct a valid URL from the user-entered text. If a valid URL cannot be constructed, the browser then automatically formats a search engine query using the user-entered text and forwards the query to an Internet search engine.
In addition, the '459 patent specifies a template registry that categorizes the specific suitability of a plurality of search engines to locate web sites related to a determined meaning of the specified text. The template is an entry in the registry that includes replaceable characters that may be replaced with the processed text. An example template registry entry that causes the Yahoo! search engine to be called is “http://msie.yahoo.com/autosearch?% s”. The % s is filled in with information regarding the search terms.
MSIE browser may redirect input such as an unresolvable domain name to the autosearch feature, but is configured to prompt the client browser to display an error message. The unresolvable domain name has never been further processed by the autosearch or routed to another naming service or namespace provider for further resolution or registration processing.
Due to the perceived shortage of TLDs, the struggle to add new TLDs has enabled industry to overlook solutions for extending the use of domain name space. Prior art clearly demonstrates that there is a need for a system to provide further use of domain name space. Accordingly, in light of the above, there is a strong need in the art for systems, method, and devices for enhancing how domain name space can be more extensively used on a network such as the Internet.
The present invention provides know-how for new and creative purchasing strategies of domain names from countries around the globe. The invention enables users to create and distribute through at least one media source indicia such as a fictitious domain name (FDN) having a Top Level Domain Alias (TLDA) for use in advertising in connection with a resolvable URI that can be calculated and/or generated from such indicia. The present invention takes advantage of the reverse hierarchy of the DNS to create a mapping between trademarks and domain names. The invention enables the creative use of FDNs to emulate resolvable valid domain names (VDNs) or real domain names (RDNs). The present invention helps a user to enter less input while navigating online information more precisely in fewer steps. The invention enables a domain name holder such as an entity or individual to license subdomains for redirection or storage. The present invention allows the possibility for unlikely parties to exchange commerce through licensing and/or partnering.
The present invention serves as a control point for an entity to track demographics, accounting data, or display targeted advertising to a user. The invention measures response rate per media to determine market share and effectiveness of targeted advertising. The present invention assures that the tracking of all TLDA redirection activity is logged and accounted for particularly when it pertains to the distribution of revenues to all parties involved. The invention does not have to rely upon any kind of translation database or registry to convert an FDN into a valid URI.
The present invention takes advantage of extending the use of postal and zip codes for locating resources. The present invention allows for port aliasing that is used for TLD redirection and querying of identifiers and URNs. The invention allows a registrant to register in any combination, a resolvable TLD, a method of resolution including a template, a PURI as a suffix, prefix or both, a search string, an address corresponding to a prefix or suffix delimiter, or component data for the purpose of generating a resolvable URI from a TLDA. The present invention eliminates the extra step of accessing a resource and then searching from such resource by processing a TLDA as a search request in the form SLD.TLDA to simultaneously access and search the resource. The invention further allows for immediate personalized results based on providing geographic or other identifiers as the TLDA search term. The present invention provides URI redirection from HLDs and SLDs to vertical market directory services, which can be endorsed, branded, and sponsored by organizations that serve such markets. The invention allows for new information spaces to be created as a result of reorganizing how TLDA name space is distributed to SLD holders.
The present invention provides a definable ranking or hierarchy by enabling registrants to favor resolution methods that may provide a strategic buying advantage or gain broader appeal for the distribution of the registered name as indicia/trademark. The invention allows SLD holders across different TLDs to register TLDA names and emulate a shared SLD name space reducing the likelihood of trademark disputes. The present invention allows for the automatic reception of indicia such as FDNs via print or machine readable code by any means such as but not limited to optical and magnetic data reading input devices to process such indicia and generate at least one valid URI for accessing resources in a network. The invention enables generated available TLDA names to be temporarily reserved which are targeted and personalized for distribution to potential users based on having some knowledge of geographic, demographic, or psychographic data about such potential users. The present invention enables query results to be used as survey data to promote statistics of what TLDAs may become possible TLDs in the future, sales leads to contact companies and provide personalized demonstration of how TLDA names can be used for advertising, branding, market segmentation, and product differentiation.
The invention provides a distributed cache for minimizing bandwidth of server requests across the backbone of the Internet. The present invention allows for the extended use of registered names by submitting the registered TLDA name on behalf of the registrant if so desired to reserve such a name at a future date for newly approved TLDs of the DNS. The invention may use a template of the MSIE autosearch feature for the purposes of TLDA redirection rather than purpose of searching in lieu of making browser modifications resulting in the savings of distribution costs for software updates.
In general, in accordance with the present invention a method for locating a network resource from an identifier having a domain name includes the steps of determining whether the domain name is fictitious, resolving the identifier in response to determining that the domain name is not fictitious, generating another identifier in response to determining that the domain name is fictitious, and resolving the generated identifier.
In accordance with an aspect of the present invention, a method for locating a network resource from a first identifier having a domain name includes determining that the domain name is a fictitious domain name (FDN) with respect to a domain name system (DNS) root, generating a second identifier, and locating the network resource from the second identifier.
In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, a method for registering a fictitious domain name (FDN) having a top level domain alias (TLDA) that is available for registration includes registering the FDN, and providing the option of pre-registering the FDN to be automatically registered at a later date as a domain name that is not fictitious when it is determined that the TLDA has become approved as a top level domain and is resolvable by a domain name system.
In accordance with yet another aspect of the present invention, a method for sending a message with a first email address having a first domain name includes determining that the first domain name is a fictitious domain name with respect to a domain name system root, generating a second email address having a second domain name that is not fictitious, and sending the message with the second email address.
In accordance with additional aspects of the present invention, a system which implements substantially the same functionality in substantially the same manner as the methods described above is provided.
In accordance with yet other additional aspects of the present invention, a computer-readable medium that includes computer-executable instructions may be used to perform substantially the same methods as those described above is provided.
The foregoing and other features of the invention are hereinafter fully described and particularly pointed out in the claims. The following description and the annexed drawings set forth in detail one or more illustrative aspects of the invention, such being indicative, however, of but one or a few of the various ways in which the principles of the invention may be employed.